We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our team in Auckland. As a hands-on Principal Software Engineer, you’ll shape the design and architecture of Lightspeed Retail’s core systems, powering thousands of merchants worldwide.

You’ll lead by example, building innovative solutions that solve real customer problems while elevating engineering excellence across the organisation through mentorship, best practices, and sustainable architecture.

The ideal candidate for this role is passionate about software development and driven by a customer-first mindset. You thrive in a team environment, supporting and mentoring others while taking ownership of complex features and exploring new technologies.

What you’ll be doing:

• Ensure systems built to support new initiatives are thoughtfully designed, scalable, and maintainable
• Analyse existing systems and infrastructure to identify opportunities for architectural improvements, reduce duplication, and enhance system performance and robustness
• Recognise recurring patterns that lead to incidents or non-project overhead and develop actionable plans to address and prevent them
• Drive continuous improvements in system reliability, scalability, and overall performance
• Elevate development practices across the team, from design reviews and testing to deployment and incident management
• Conduct architectural deep-dives and provide mentorship to key engineers across all service teams
• As a senior member of the engineering team, contribute to building and sustaining a high-performance, growth-oriented culture within the Retail organisation

And a little bit of… 

• Contributing as part of the wider team to achieve organisational-wide objectives even if this means doing things that aren’t strictly within the scope of your role

What you need to bring:

We're looking for a candidate who has experience with the following:

• Extensive professional experience in software development
• Proven experience providing technical leadership across multiple teams
• Previous experience managing architecture for large-scale systems spanning engineering teams
• Proven track record in developing and scaling business-critical systems in the cloud
• Hands-on experience with multiple technology stacks, such as Go, PHP, Java, Ruby on Rails, and Python
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey complex ideas
• Strong facilitation and decision-making skills, with the ability to guide technical discussions, balance diverse viewpoints, and make sound, timely calls

What’s in it for you?

Come live the Lightspeed experience...

• Ability to do your job in a truly flexible environment;
• Genuine career opportunities in a company that’s creating new jobs everyday;
• Work in a team big enough for growth but lean enough to make a real impact.

… and enjoy a range of benefits that’ll keep you happy, healthy and (not) hungry:

• Lightspeed share scheme (we are all owners)
• Unlimited paid time off policy
• Work remotely from anywhere in the world for up to 60 days per year
• Flexible working policy
• Health and wellness benefit of $500 per year
• Mental health online platform and counselling & coaching services
• Paid leave and assistance for new parents
• Free LinkedIn Learning license
• Paid Volunteer day
• Premium cover if you sign up for health insurance with Southern Cross
• Exciting events hosted regularly by our Auckland Culture Club
• Subsidised public transportation to cover up to 75% of your commuting costs
• Secure, full-time parking facilities 
• Dog-friendly office environment
• Enjoy complimentary breakfast and lunch options, along with fresh fruits, snacks, and beverages stocked in the office 
• Newly renovated office space situated in Newmarket (Auckland)